Paris Olympics: Iran’s Salimi overcomes odds to cruise into taekwondo +80kg final
Arian Salimi defeated former taekwondo world champion Ivan Šapina from Croatia 2-1 in the men's +80kg semifinals on Saturday to advance to the final, eyeing gold.
In the high-adrenaline encounter, Salimi lost the first round to his Croatian opponent before bouncing back strongly to win the other two rounds, making good use of his height and acrobatics.
Šapina is a two-time medalist in the men's 87 kg event at the World Taekwondo Championships as well as a gold medalist at the European Taekwondo Championships.
In the quarterfinals, Salimi defeated Carlos Sansores of Mexico in straight rounds to book a spot in the semifinals.
In the gold medal match later on Saturday, Salimi will go against Caden Cunningham, a British taekwondo athlete who competes in the + 87kg heavyweight division.
Iran's Arian Salimi defeats former world champion Ivan Šapina from Croatia 2-1 in the men's taekwondo +80kg semifinals to advance to the gold medal match at the Paris Olympics.#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/6kuryie4it
— Press TV at Paris Olympics (@presstvsports) August 10, 2024
Cunningham defeated Cheick Sallah Cissé, an Ivorian taekwondo athlete, to cruise into the final.
On Friday, Mehran Barkhordari lost to Tunisian opponent Firas Katoussi in the men's taekwondo 80kg final to end up as runner-up, adding another silver to Iran's medal tally at the Paris Olympics.
Nahid Kiani also scripted history in taekwondo women's 57kg at the Paris Olympics to bag the first-ever Olympic silver medal for Iran in the sport.
Kiani went down fighting against her South Korean opponent Kim Yujin in the taekwondo women's 57kg final at the Paris Olympics on Thursday to settle for silver.
So far, Iran has bagged nine medals at the Paris Olympics 2024, including two gold, four silver and two bronze. More medals are expected on Saturday and Sunday.
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